Old Phone Names Cool Again. Are Khaki Pants Next?

Yesterday Motorola announced a new smartphone called the Droid Razr. Those with memories that extend beyond Paleozoic pre-iPhone era may recall a popular Motorola flip phone called the Razr. Released in 2004, the Razr was a hot phone because it was thin and…well…it was thin. People didn’t ask for much back then.

Mark Lennihan/AP Photo

Sanjay Jha, CEO of Motorola Mobility, holds the Droid Razr in New York.

Not quite so, says Charles Golvin, mobile analyst for Forrester, who says that at the time, the Razr was revolutionary. Yes, it was thin, but there was also that brushed aluminum clamshell body—a body that introduced sexiness to a category cursed by StartTAC lookalikes.

Unless you are the sort who lives to program emulators that can play ColecoVision games off your smartphone, technology and nostalgia generally are diametrically opposed to each other. But in this case, Motorola’s move is understandable. The Razr was one of the last things that gave Motorola street cred.

From photos, the new Droid Razr shares similar characteristics, with a similar finish. And yes, it is also thin.

But that’s not to say that other companies facing similar street cred deficiencies should follow suit with products that harken back to simpler times (no matter how much fun it would be to read about people lining up in the early morning to buy the new Windows 95).

According to Golvin, the risk of attaching old names to shiny new devices carries more risk than its worth. “I think they (Motorola) has a challenge,” said Golvin. “Today when you ask someone about a Razr, it is more likely to carry a negative reaction, like ‘I can’t believe that he still carries a Razr.”

You hear that Nokia? If you are planning to name your new device, the N-Gage, we request that you find a new name. Apple may be willing to sell you the name Newton.